Cardiac ischemia is a condition whereby heart tissue does not receive adequate amounts of oxygen and is usually caused by a blockage of an artery leading to the heart tissue. If sufficiently severe, the ischemia results in an acute myocardial infarction (AMI), also referred to as a heart attack. With AMI, a substantial portion of heart muscle ceases to function because it no longer receives oxygen, usually due to significant blockage of the coronary artery. Generally, AMI occurs when plaque (such as fat, cholesterol, and calcium) builds up and then ruptures in the coronary artery. allowing a blood clot or thrombus to form. Eventually, the blood clot completely blocks the coronary artery and so heart tissue beyond the blockage no longer receives oxygen and the tissue dies. In many cases, an AMI proves fatal because too much tissue is damaged to allow continued functioning of the heart muscle. Indeed, AMI is a leading cause of death in the United States and worldwide. In other cases, although the AMI itself may not be fatal, it strikes while the victim is engaged in potentially dangerous activities, such as driving vehicles or flying airplanes, and the severe pain and possible loss of consciousness associated with AMI results in serious accidents. Even if the victim survives the AMI, quality of life may be severely restricted thereafter, because the heart is unable to adequately function due to regions of dead tissue.
Often AMI is preceded by episodes of cardiac ischemia that are not sufficiently serious to cause actual permanent injury to the heart tissue. Nevertheless, these episodes are often precursors to AMI. Episodes of cardiac ischemia may also trigger certain types of arrhythmias that may prove fatal, particularly ventricular fibrillation (VF) wherein the ventricles of the heart beat chaotically resulting in little or no net flow of blood from the heart to the brain and other organs. Indeed, serious episodes of cardiac ischemia (referred to herein as acute myocardial ischemia) typically result in either a subsequent AMI or VF, often within one to twenty-four four hours, sometimes within only a half an hour or less.
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to provide a technique for reliably detecting acute myocardial ischemia so that the victim may be warned and medical attention sought. If properly warned, surgical procedures may be implemented to locate and remove the growing arterial blockage or anti-thrombolytic medications may be administered. At the very least, advanced warning would allow the victim to cease activities that might result in a fatal accident. Moreover, in many cases, AMI of VF is triggered by strenuous physical activities and so advanced warning would allow the victim to cease such activities, possibly preventing AMI or VF from occurring.
Many patients at risk of cardiac ischemia have pacemakers, ICDs or other medical devices implanted therein. Accordingly, techniques have been proposed for detecting cardiac ischemia using implanted medical devices. In particular, techniques have been developed for analyzing internal electrocardiogram (IEGM) signals in an effort to detect cardiac ischemia. See, as examples, the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,113,869 to Nappholz; 5,135,004 to Adams et al.; 5,199,428 to Obel et al.; 5,203,326 to Collins; 5,313,953 to Yomtov et al; 6,501,983 to Natarajan, et al.; 6,016,443, 6,233,486, 6,256,538, and 6,264,606 to Ekwall; 6,021,350 to Mathson; 6,112,116 and 6,272,379 to Fischell et al; 6,128,526, 6,115,628 and 6,381,493 to Stadler et al; and 6,108,577 to Benser. Most ischemia detection techniques seek to detect ischemia by identifying changes in the ST segment of the IEGM that are manifest during cardiac ischemia. The ST segment represents the portion of the cardiac signal between ventricular depolarization (also referred to as an R-wave) and ventricular repolarization (also referred to as a T-wave). Strictly speaking, R-waves and T-waves are features of a surface electrocardiogram (EKG). For convenience, herein, the terms R-wave and T-wave are used to refer to the corresponding internal signal component.
Problems, however, arise when attempting to detect cardiac ischemia using ST segments. Most pacemakers and ICDs initially route electrical cardiac signals through highpass filters to eliminate direct current (DC) components so that the signals can be more easily and reliably analyzed to detect relatively high frequency signal components such as P-waves, R-waves, etc. However, ST segments primarily consist of very low-frequency signals. So, to permit ST segments to be analyzed for ischemia detection purposes, the highpass filter must be configured to have a sufficiently low cutoff frequency (typically about 0.1 Hz) to allow the low frequency components of the ST segments to pass through the filter. Unfortunately, highpass filters requiring low cutoff frequencies are not well-suited for use within implantable medical devices. In particular, such filters require very large capacitors, which add significantly to the size and weight of the implantable device. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide techniques for detecting cardiac ischemia, which do not require highpass filters with low cutoff frequencies. In addition, because the ST segment primarily consists of low-frequency signals, techniques based upon an analysis of those segments may not be particularly reliable. Accordingly, it would also be desirable to provide techniques for detecting cardiac ischemia that do not exploit the ST segment. It is to these ends that aspects of the invention are primarily directed.
Another concern with cardiac ischemia detection techniques for use in implantable medical devices is that some use fairly long range telemetry devices to transmit warning signals to external warning systems. Long range telemetry devices require a considerable amount of power and can add significantly to the size, weight and cost of the implantable device. Short range telemetry devices may not be sufficient to ensure that the warning is received. Accordingly, it would also be desirable to provide improved techniques for reliably providing warning signals that do not require long range telemetry and it is to these ends that other aspects of the invention are directed.